This invention relates to a slide fastener finishing machine which is adapted to finish a slide fastener by manually assembling a slider and a bottom stop to slide fastener chains sewn on clothing--for example, trousers' fly--or slide fastener chains not secured to any support member.
Slide fastener finishing machines of the above-mentioned type are usually employed by makers of clothing such as trousers and are known from British Pat. No. 1,024,708, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 12,245/1976 and Japanese Patent Publication No. 7,423/1976. The principal components of the such type slide fastener finishing machine are a punch and a cooperating die adapted to fasten a bottom stop to the fastener chains in combination and a slider holding jig. The die and slider holding jig are adapted to reciprocally move between a position in which the die and slider holding jig are positioned right below the punch and a position in which the die and slider holding jig are offset from the punch.
Particularly, in the slide fastener finishing machine disclosed in British Pat. No. 1,024,708, an arm is rockably mounted on the machine frame, a die is mounted at the free end of the arm and a slider holding jig is mounted on the arm for vertical movement. In performing a slide fastener finishing operation with such a finishing machine, the arm is tilted so as to position the upper end of the slider holding jig above the upper end of the arm, and the operator uses both hands to manually thread the fastener chains through the slider held on the slider holding jig from the side of the punch. Then the operator releases his grip on the fastener chains and, while gripping the leading ends of the fastener chains with one hand, moves the jig down with the other hand to position on the die the part of the fastener chains where a bottom stop is to be fastened. Then while holding the chains on the die with one hand the operator uses his other hand to raise the arm for fastening the bottom stop to the fastener chains. Thus, in using the slide fastener finishing machine of the British Patent, it is necessary for the operator to change his or her grip on the fastener chains a number of times.
In the slide fastener finishing machine as disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 12,245/1976, clampers having a die holder and a jig, respectively, have different pivot points. As in the case of the slider fastener finishing machine of the above-mentioned British Patent, in the slide fastener finishing machine of the Japanese patent application, the operator must change his or her grip on the fastener chains a number of times. Furthermore, in the slide fastener finishing machine as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 7,423/1976, a die and a jig are mounted on a rockable die block, fastener chains are threaded through a slider held on the jig towards a punch to position the leading ends of the fastener chains onto the die. However, in the slide fastener finishing machine of the last-mentioned Japanese patent application, it is required to secure the leading ends of the fastener chains to the die by the operator's one hand and then move the die block to an upright position right below the punch. Thus, in any one of the above-mentioned known slide fastener finishing machines, it is necessary for the operator to change his or her grip on the fastener chains during the finish operation and since the fastener chains are gripped with just one hand, the grip is not strong and the fastener chains tend to slip. Furthermore, changing the grip on the fastener chains is time consuming and inefficient.